FACTS & HINTS

HIGH-YIELD FACTS

Anatomic Points

Hip Joint

The hip joint is a stable ball and socket joint that carries the whole bodyweight. Its stabilityresults from the snug fit of the large femoral head and deep acetabulum, which is supported on all sides bypowerful intrinsic ligaments and muscles. There is a tendencyfor the trunk to tilt backwards at the hip joints, because the line of gravitypasses posteriorly; the powerful iliofemoral ligament resists this.

Clinical Points

Femoral Hernia

Occur when part of an abdominal viscus or fat protrudes into the femoral canal through its opening, the femoral ring More common in women because of wider femoral ring

Present as a mass (often tender) inferolateral to the pubic tubercle Mayenlarge bypassing through the saphenous opening

Are at a high risk of strangulation because of hard margins of femoral ring Surgical reduction and repair is usuallynecessary

Fractured Neck of Femur ("Broken hip")

Common in the elderly, particularlywomen with osteoporotic bone

Can occur as the result of high impact accident, such as head-on car collision

Maydamage branches of medial circumflexfemoral arterysupplying the femoral head

Results in bleeding into the hip joint and avascular necrosis of the head of the femur

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MNEMONICS

Memory Aids

Memory Aids

* Nerve = Femoral, but it does not descend with the femoral artery and vein in the femoral sheath. It travels on the surface of the iliopsoas muscle. The femoral branch of the genitofemoral nerve travels beneath the inguinal ligament just lateral to the femoral artery, within the femoral sheath.

**Empty space = Femoral canal, because it is a potential space filled with compressible tissue.

***The lacunar ligament is the hard medial margin of the femoral ring; it is an expansion of the inguinal ligament. Filling the gap between the attachment of the inguinal ligament to the pubic tubercle and the pecten pubis, posteriorly.

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